Black Belt Karate : The Intensive Course

In Black Belt Karate, Hirokazu Kanazawa, the most respected figure in the karate world, offers a systematic approach to basic karate, and provides an intensive training course.


Karate is a martial art that can be practiced by anyone, regardless of age or gender, and can be undertaken at any time during a person’s life. The training system employed in karate comprises three main areas: kihon (basics), kumite (sparring), and kata (forms).


Using meticulously detailed explanations and illustrative photos, Kanazawa provides readers with an intensive self-study training course designed to be accessible to beginners, as well as to those already at an intermediate level. If practiced continuously and diligently over the course of a year, a practitioner will be able to attain black-belt-level proficiency.


Praise for Black Belt Karate:
"By following each and every page of this book as if receiving instruction directly from Mr. Kanazawa, I believe that over time, with careful practice, gaining proficiency is all but guaranteed. For anyone setting out to master karate-do, you hold in your hands a fine book indeed."—The late Masatoshi Nakayama, former chief instructor of the Japan Karate Association and author of Kodansha’s Best Karate series

HIROKAZU KANAZAWA is the most respected figure in the karate world today, and a close disciple of Gichin Funakoshi, the father of modern karate and founder of the Shotokan school. Kanazawa founded the Shotokan Karate-do International Federation in 1979, after gaining his impressive reputation in Hawaii, the U.S. mainland, and Europe as an official trainer for the Japan Karate Association. The Shotokan Karate-do International Federation now has branches in more than 90 countries throughout the world. Kanazawa is the author of Karate Fighting Techniques published by Kodansha.